1914 Delage Historic Car uses 3D Laser Scanning to drive again
The car was meticulously restored in the 1970s and today is the sole survivor – historically significant, technically revolutionary, beautiful, valuable, and arguably Australia’s finest veteran car.
After several attempts to repair using conventional methods, it was decided to re-manufacture a faithful replica of the entire engine block, without destroying the original.
The owner remained committed to keeping the Delage on the road, but it had to be exactly the same.
As there was no information other than the original engine, re-manufacturing was done using 3d scanning the original block, CAD modelling a virtual block, CAD modelling and 3D printing a sand mould, casting the block in a material similar to the original, and machining the casting to suit all the other retained engine components. To all intents and purposes – a clone
Ensuring the engine was captured with accuracy that reflected the original casting imperfections including hammer marks were the main concerns for our engineer.
Almost all surfaces were obtained from scanned data capturing original markings and details. All external surfaces, combustion chambers, ports and some water jacket features were accessible. Internal details were modelled using partial scanned data to determine dimensions and form. Machining allowances were added and errors corrected.
Traditional methods of casting would be far too costly for an engine that only needed to be replicated once – the perfect reason to use the VoxelJet sand printer. The model of the mould was exported to the only sand printer in Australia, a Voxeljet VX-1000 at CSIRO Lab 22.
A set of trial moulds was printed and the mould pieces were sealed and assembled with only minor changes to mould or process required.
Photos and Story Courtesy of Phil Guilfoyle
Project Management in Heritage Automotive
A true collaboration of specialists, traditional and contemporary manufacturing techniques used to save a sole survivor.
Mr Stuart Murdoch – Owner of GP Delage
Up The Creek Workshop – Vintage Automotive Engineering
CSIRO Lab 22 – Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Voxeljet AG – 3D Printer Manufacturer
Keech Australia – Foundry and Metallurgical Engineering
For more information on 3D Scanning for your next automotive project Contact Us.
